If you are looking to start your own YouTube channel to show off your gaming chops or just talk about your favourite platforms and titles, it can be a daunting task. Fret not, however, here’s the first of a series of guides that will help you kickstart your YouTube adventure, let’s get started!
Rule #1: Put In Some Cash
Why? There is a huge amount of professional gaming YouTubers who have conquered YouTube with their content. In order to stand out and to create your own brand in the YouTube market, you have to start from the bottom while striving to be as professional as possible. No one wants to watch a video with bad visual and audio quality. You have to show them why your channel is worth subscribing to, and you are worth keeping up with. In another word, YouTubing is a business between the content creator and the subscribers.
Equipment:
A Good PC for video editing
Desktop or Notebook? I would say Notebook. But why? You can bring your Notebook with you and do the editing whenever you are free!
How about the specs? An Intel Core i5 and 4GB of RAM is the minimum for editing. A good graphics card and an SSD will make it better and a dual monitor setup will undoubtedly help. Nowadays laptops come with a decent graphics card that is capable of video editing. However, working with Photoshop, Lightroom, Avid Pinnacle, and other related programs require a medium grade graphics card to process or render the edited video without any problem. Lag and interuptions might occur if your specs are not up to snuff.
Gaming Console
Decide on which console you are going to feature. XBOX ONE, PS4 or PC. Choose your platform and train. No one wants to watch gameplay without skills. Check out what games are on the top list now and what games are hot right now. Go to https://www.twitch.tv/ or https://gaming.youtube.com/ and watch what games are getting the most attention. Livestreams or Let’s Plays, watch the professionals and how they work, most importantly, learn by watching their gameplay. Platforms will have exclusives, and it’s important to take into account which you are interested in. It is the best to ask yourselves that question before purchasing a console. The alternative is to get everything, but that’s going to cost you.
Consoles like XBOX ONE and PS4 allow you to stream directly from the consoles without the need of an external capture card. However, XBOX ONE does not allow live streaming to YouTube for now. The Twitch streaming app is available for XBOX ONE which you can use to live stream while PS4 allows you to stream on both YouTube and Twitch.
Do not miss out PC GAMING! PC is the god of gaming.
http://www.game-debate.com/can-I-run/?EA
The link above is a useful tool for every PC Gamer. It will tell you if your PC can run your favorite game.
Capture Card/Live Streaming Card
Elgato is one of the best brands for capture cards. The budget capture cards which I mentioned above can record up to 1080P quality. Visit this channel, https://www.youtube.com/c/MukeshJoe to watch the quality of the budget capture card.
You don’t have to purchase all of them. Choose the right card for you. Do drop your questions in the comment section below or contact me directly, I’ll gladly have a discussion with you and help you out.
Software
For a PC with Low Specs:
Windows Movie Maker / ArcSoft ShowBiz
Both of these tools can be used for rudimentary editing processes.
Windows Movie Maker can be found in all Windows PC, if not, get it here: http://tinyurl.com/jfcqyoz
Download Link for ArcSoft ShowBiz: http://arcsoft-showbiz.soft32.com/
For a PC with Good Specs:
1. Filmora Video Editor
Filmora Video Editor has an abundance of effects that you can use to personalize your video when editing. Those include intros/outros with multiple templates to choose from. Transitions will smoothen the viewing experience from scene to scene, whereas sound effects and filters will add style to your presentation. Furthermore, it has support for various file formats and is guaranteed to be of high quality.
- One notable feature of this program is the video color correction for adjustment of brightness, saturation, and contrast.
- Green screen is another feature that makes it possible to replace the background.
- Scene detection helps to know when changes have been made to scenes.
- Face off offers fun faces for making a video funny.
- PIP effect makes it possible to overlay more than one video together.
Get it here: https://www.iskysoft.com/filmora-video-editor-windows.html
2. LightWorks (Windows and Mac)
This is a professional editor that you can use to work on your YouTube files. It’s non-linear and has support for resolutions amounting to 4K. It works well with videos on both HD and SD formats. If you have a film that you want to edit, LightWorks will be a good choice to consider at any given time.
Get it here: https://www.lwks.com/
3. Avid Pinnacle
This is my favourite video editing software. Pinnacle Studio 20 claims a well-deserved spot on our side-by-side comparison chart of the best video editing software. Its combined timeline/storyboard interface gives it a unique workflow. It also has the largest library that is filled with different effects and transitions compared to most of the video editing software that we’ve reviewed. But if you want more than six editing tracks, you’ll have to upgrade to the Plus or Ultimate version of the software.
Get it here: http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/studio/
A Good Connection
Let me keep this simple.
Anything below a ping of 20ms is considered to be great, while anything over 150ms could result in noticeable lag.
For gaming, you should avoid connecting your console or desktop PC to the internet via Wi-Fi as it limits the bandwidth you can get. Instead, Wi-Fi should be used for less intensive functions. By connecting your gaming console to your router directly with an Ethernet cable, your speeds will be at least 10x faster than using your Wi-Fi connection. However, if Wi-Fi is your only option, then place your PC or console as close to the router as possible.”
Test Your Ping Here: http://www.pingtest.net/
A min speed of 10 MBPS will be good if you are gaming and also live streaming. Don’t go for the minimum, always try to get the max download/upload. A good speed will allow you to play and stream without any lag. And no one wants to watch a laggy live stream.
Cameras/Microphones
LIKE A PRO:
Get It Here: http://www.rode.com/microphones/video
Purchase Through Lazada: http://tinyurl.com/h7zfaqa
Nikon D5300
Get It Here: http://tinyurl.com/zknnxqp
BUDGET:
12 MP with HD Images
Get It Here: http://tinyurl.com/gsv97qz
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This is what it takes in order for you to compete with the existing gaming YouTube channels. In Part 1, I emphasize mostly on the equipment and things that you’ll be needing. Do stay tuned and for Part 2 where I’m gonna teach you the legit way to get views or in another word, how to increase exposure for your videos to the right audience. If I missed out anything in Part 1 , let me know and I will add on in Part 2.
“Just Because It’s hard Doesn’t Mean It’s Not For You.”
-Mukesh Maran-
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